Momentum 2022: Forge helping young professionals see Topeka as more attractive option

By Brianna Childers bchilders@cjonline.com

Friday

Aug 30, 2019 at 1:47 PMSep 12, 2019 at 9:57 AM

Lindsay Lebahn believes that people who are engaged in the community will find all the beauty it has to offer, and with Topeka Forge, a young professionals organization, people are given the opportunity to explore all facets of the city.

Forge currently has more than 2,000 members, according to Lebahn, the organization's executive director. While that number is impressive, Lebahn is focused on a much smaller number.

"The ones that are coming to events, the ones that are finding out about other events are making those connections — whether it be through their business, in their community — that's the number I really care about," Lebahn said. "If I only have 100 that are really connected, that's the number. That core number is the one I try to focus on and I think the community is trying to focus on."

Forge was instrumental in creating Topeka's new flag, which was selected by community members following a community-wide vote. Since then, the flag design has been incorporated into T-shirts, murals and ornaments.

In addition to the flag creation, Forge plans events for young professionals who are 18-40 years old, such as volunteer opportunities, cooking classes, and fitness and social events.

Kayla Bitler-Loschke, the Greater Topeka Partnership's senior vice president of strategy for Momentum 2022, said Forge is important to Momentum 2022, which is about the collaborative direction of the community.

"Youth and young people are a part of that," Bitler-Loschke said. "I think a great argument could be made that they are the most important part of that because they are the future of the community."

Bitler-Loschke and Lebhan said in the past few years they have started to see a shift among young adults and teenagers in how they view Topeka.

"For so long, it was you had to go to Lawrence and Kansas City and now you don't," Lebahn said. "So I think we see more and more wanting to stay here. It is still just that shift in the mindset — you don't have to go there."

Bitler-Loschke added sometimes she gets challenged on the assumption that people don't want to be in Topeka and stay here.

"That's been the common conception of community members," Bitler-Loschke said. "Sometimes when we go to present we are almost a little defensive, and so like now we will go talk to a group of high school students and they will say, 'No, I don't feel that way. You don't have to defend yourself; I'm happy to be here and I like it here.'

"By no means is everyone there. By no means does every college student want to stay or every college student who's not here want to come here, but I think there is a definite shift in the numbers that want to stay and the numbers that want to come."

Another branch of Forge that Lebahn said she is most proud of is the Top City intern program. In its third year, the program highlights everything about Topeka, she said.

This year's program had 190 interns with 12 different states being represented, including Arkansas, Mississippi and Minnesota.

"Seeing that number, I think, was one of the coolest stats we had," Lebahn said. "A lot of them do retain here and end up finding jobs or finding local connections, but even if they don't, that is a really cool thing that is being spread about Topeka."

During the summer program, interns attended lunch-and-learns where they talked to local businesses, financial summits and heard from Cody Foster, co-founder of Advisor's Excel, about why people should invest in Topeka.

"We had some interns come in from Lawrence and they pushed him a little hard, like, 'We always think east; what are you going to do to make us think west?'" Lebahn said. "Through that program, they were like, 'Man, I didn't know you guys had so many cool things going on,' and so that was really neat to see."

Bitler-Loschke said the exposure the interns get of Topeka is amazing and offers an opportunity for people from different states to experience Topeka.

"The ultimate goal is that they stay," Bitler-Loschke said. "That's what we want the most, but what we will settle for is for them to go home and be satisfied with their experience in Topeka."

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